My eyes grow wider as I read the words written on the grave stones for the eleventh time. I exhale before speaking. "Um....are those...our tombstones?"
Out of my peripheral vision, I see James nodding slowly next to me.
"Y-yes," he replies after several moments of stunned silence.
I clear my throat and clasp my hands together. "Well..."
My eyes lock with his as he exhales. "You ready to rise from the grave?" He asks, extending his fingers to me.
I nod and take his outstretched hand. We walk together through the grave yard until we reach the back entrance of the Coven. I stop just before the gate as my gaze shifts to the last tombstone.
"What is it?" James asks as I release his hand and crouch down to the tombstone. I run my fingers over the engraving, my mother's name. I tense as James's hand slides onto my shoulder.
"We didn't know she was alive," he says.
I abruptly stand up.
"Don't you see the problem with that?" I ask, anger seeping into my voice. My eyes flit from one grave stone to another until they land on one final one.
"Elliana Vice," I whisper. "My sister's grave is here, right next to yours and mine, as if we are no longer living."
I turn to James, tears stinging my eyes. "How many more? How many more witches have graves here when they aren't even dead? How many more of these are empty James? These witches could be alive out there, having joined forces with the Finger-Less Coven, or got lost, or have been captured and we wouldn't even know."
I inhale a sharp breath. "Why? Because our Coven just decided that as soon as a witch leaves the camp perimeter, they're dead. Just like us."
He shakes his head. "I know but what can we do about it Jacklyn? We don't run this Coven, Bodhi does, along with the rest of the council. We are just children to them."
Placing a hand on my shoulder, he lifts my chin and looks me in the eyes. "There is nothing we can do about this now, let's go inside and face the others."
Nearby an owl hoots as I nod my agreement and follow him through the gate. dreading my confrontation already.
....
The crystals glass my aunt was carrying smashes into a hundred tiny pieces on the floor as she looks at me.
I fold my arms. "I see my spell wore off."
She swallows, hard. "W-we th-thought y-you were dead."
I lift my gaze to meet her torn one. "I thought my mother was dead."
Her wrinkled fingers press against her heart. "Your mother is dead child."
Taking a cautious step forward, I reply: "No, she isn't Bodhi. I met her in the woods. She is now the manager of the Finger-Less Coven."
She casts her gaze to the ground.
"But you knew that," I say softly.
Her eyes flit back up to my face.
"Where is your sister?"
She barely manages to choke out the words.
"She joined them," I reply coolly.
Bodhi squeezes her eyes shut as tears roll down her wrinkled cheeks.
"How did you survive the leader of the Finger-less Coven? She wouldn't have let you go easily Jacklyn."
My blood boils as I close the distance between us. "You knew who I was, and you said nothing. You knew I was a child of that coven as well as a child of this one. You knew I was a half-breed you said NOTHING!"
My voice rises with every word. My aunt flinches and refuses to meet my eyes.
I square my shoulders. "Mother sent a witch to get me, that is how I survived."
She nods slowly before raising her eyes to meet mine. "The witch's tournament is in thirteen days, we don't have much time to train you two."
My eyes grow wide. "We've been gone for over two months?!"
She shoots me a puzzled expression. "You didn't know?"
James steps forward. "That's impossible, we can't have been gone for more than a few days."
She shakes her head. "No, you've been gone for over two months. Did you go anywhere besides the forest?"
I close my eyes and inhale before opening them again. James's eyes lock with mine. "The City Of The Dead."
An audible gasp flies out of my aunt's mouth. "You went into there?" she whispers.
I raise an eyebrow. "Yeah, why?"
Just then the bell for evening training sounds. Bodhi cautiously lays a hand on my arm, I flinch and push it off.
"James, let's go for training, we need to be ready for the tournament."
I look at James. "Yeah, let's go."
The sound of Bodhi's choking sobs fade as the door swings shut behind us.
..........
"James?" I ask once we are in the training room.
"Yeah?"
"Since I don't exactly want Bodhi training me right now do you think you could...." I trail off at the look in his eyes. "What is it?"
He takes a step closer to me, a small smile playing on his lips. "Jacklyn Vice, are you asking me to train with you?"
I inhale a shaky breath and try to calm my heart. I've trained with James thousands of times before, why do I suddenly feel different and is it hot in here? I clear my throat and look at James.
"Yeah, why not?" My voice comes out shakier than I would've like but he doesn't seem to notice. He nods and takes another step closer.
"Why are your cheeks red Jacklyn?"
Instinctively, my hands reach up to my cheeks. I internally curse, they're hot. He reaches his fingers out and lays them gently on my face.
"Is it because of what happened in the woods? Between me and you?"
I swallow hard and step back. Pushing my hair behind my ears, I avoid his eyes. "N-no, why would I b-be I mean..."
He takes another step closer. "Are you sure? Jacklyn if it makes you uncomfortable, I won't kiss you again."
I shake my head. "No, it's not that it's just-"
"No?" he says, closing the distance between us. "So you would like me to kiss you again?"
I meet his eyes, my heart is pounding so loud in my ears and I can't breathe properly. He leans down until our faces are inches away from each other.
"Because if that's the case..." he breathes.
"Ahem."
We both jump at the sound of someone else's voice filling the room. I look up to find Rider, James's brother, leaning in the doorway. Like his brother, he is tall, with dark features, and dark hair. Unlike his brother, he has cold, piercing blue eyes, very much a contrast to James's kind forest green ones. He strides into the room with a smug look sitting on his face.
"Am I interrupting something little brother?"
James moves to stand in front of me. "We were just training for the tournament, what are you doing here?"
Rider raises his eyebrows. "I heard you two were alive."
He shakes his head. "We had a funeral for you both and everything."
Eyes shifting between James and I, he almost looks disappointed. He clucks his tongue.
"Damn shame."